Gold Spot Price Open: $1,226
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,219
Change in Gold Spot Price: -$7
Silver Spot Price Open: $15.35
Silver Spot Price Close: $15.19
Change in Silver Spot Price: -$0.16
Gold and silver continued to suffer losses on Thursday thanks to follow-through selling and a host of other factors. When all was said and done, gold lost only a few dollars while silver fell by sixteen cents. Platinum and palladium were also down on the day, with both metals losing closer to 5 dollars apiece.
Gold Suffers At Hand of USD
The spot values of gold and silver were delivered some fairly solid blows as soon as markets opened on Thursday thanks mostly to follow-through selling from Wednesday losses. Not helping precious metals at all was the fact that the US Dollar performed quite well yesterday and during the overnight hours. During pre-market hours, the spot value of gold was trading at a 4-week low and that pretty much set the tone for the day.
With all this being said, I would not be surprised to see metals make a bit of a comeback before the week is through simply because prices have fallen so far that bargain-hunting might make an appearance. With most major markets closed on Friday to celebrate the beginning of the Easter holiday, I imagine the data and news streams will be quite light. For gold and silver, this trading session has been anything but beneficial, but that does not mean all is bad because outside forces across the global marketplace are such that precious metals can very easily make gains at any given moment in time.
When markets open up again next week, the initial direction of gold and silver will be very crucial for investors. If the downtrend that has already begun to take shape this week continues, we very well see another trading session full of losses. However, there is no clear way to gauge how the market will be feeling after this holiday weekend.
Oil’s Rally Cut Short Due to High Supplies
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past year, you likely know that a massive oil supply-glut is to thank for incredibly cheap prices at the pump. That supply-glut has not gone away, and despite oil’s rally over the past week or so, it seems as though we are about to be experiencing what can kindly be referred to as the same old story. Once again we are seeing oil prices dip due to massive supplies and producers’ inability to curb those supplies.
Today, the price of oil fell below $40/barrel for the first time in little more than a month. This move downward is mostly thanks to weak US equities and a strong US supply of the commodity. To put the massive US stockpile into perspective, last week’s data showed that the US is stockpiling nearly 10 million barrels of oil; a number that triples even moderate forecasts.
Perhaps hurting crude oil even further is the fact that OPEC seems to be without any method by which they can curb supplies. Even if nations like Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Russia cut their production altogether, a hungry Iran will quickly step in to fill the void that is created. Understanding this, it does not seem like there is much ability for the supply-glut we have witnessed for the past few months do anything other than grow. And while this is good for consumers at the pump, it is wreaking havoc on some big-time global economies.
Wrap-Up
As was previously touched upon, tomorrow marks the beginning of the Easter holiday, and this means that most major marketplaces will either be extremely slow, or closed altogether. For gold and silver there is no much hope of ending this week on a positive note, but the hope is that fortunes will change upon the opening of markets next week.
